How to add a caption to the WordPress Featured Image block

Adding a featured image caption is a common task for creators who want to provide context or photo credits to their WordPress posts. You’ve selected the perfect featured image and want to display it prominently at the top with its caption below, just like popular news magazines do.

However, when you try to do this, you may notice that the core WordPress Featured Image block doesn’t have a caption option by default. So, how do you add a caption to the WordPress featured image in a block theme? In this article, we’ll show you the easiest way using the Twentig plugin, which enhances the core blocks you already use.

Why add a caption to your featured image?

A well-placed caption is a small detail that delivers significant benefits:

• Photo attribution: Provide proper credit to the photographer or image source, which is often a legal or ethical requirement.
• Add context: Briefly explain what the image shows, who is in it, or how it connects to your article.
• Boost SEO: Captions provide valuable context for search engines. As Google’s documentation on image best practices states, “Google extracts information about the subject matter of the image from the content of the page, including captions and image titles.” Using descriptive captions helps Google understand and rank your content better.
• Improve accessibility: Captions offer extra information for visually impaired users who rely on screen readers, working alongside your image’s alt text to create a more accessible experience.

This is a standard practice in professional publications. For example, notice how The New Yorker uses a simple, effective caption for their featured image.

How to add a caption to the WordPress Featured Image block

While the core Featured Image block lacks a caption setting, the Twentig plugin adds this essential control in a familiar way. It uses the same “Add caption” icon from the standard Image block, placing it directly in the Featured Image block’s toolbar. Adding a caption this way is a simple, two-step process.

First, ensure you have the Twentig plugin installed and activated.

Step 1: Enable the caption in your theme’s template

Let’s start by enabling the caption option in the template that displays your posts. For most themes, this will be the “Single Posts” template.

1. From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance → Editor.
2. Open your Templates and select the Single Posts template to edit it.
3. If your template doesn’t already have one, insert a Featured Image block where you want it to appear.
4. Click the Featured Image block to select it.
5. In the block’s top toolbar that appears, you’ll see a new “Add caption” icon added by Twentig. Click the icon to enable the caption.

That’s it for the setup! This template is now configured to display captions for any post that uses it.

Step 2: Add the caption text to your featured image

Now, you can add a unique caption to the featured image on any individual post.

1. Open a post in the block editor.
2. In the Post settings sidebar on the right, locate the Featured Image panel.
3. Click on the image to open the Media Library.
4. In the Attachment Details section on the right, type your text into the Caption field.
5. Simply close the Media Library modal. WordPress automatically saves the caption text with the image.

Now, view your post on the front end. The caption will be displayed right below your featured image.

How to add a caption to other images

Beyond the featured image, you’ll notice that magazine sites, like Vogue, often use captions on all their images. This practice creates a more informative and polished reading experience.

You can easily do the same in WordPress. For any standard Image block inside your post content, click the “Add caption” icon in the toolbar. A field will appear below the image where you can type your caption directly in the editor.

Styling your featured image caption

The appearance of your caption (its font, size, and color) is controlled by your block theme’s theme.json file. If you’re a theme developer or an advanced user comfortable with code, you can customize the style for the caption element. Because this targets the core caption element, these styles will apply consistently to all blocks that use a caption, including the Image, Featured Image, Gallery, Video, Audio, Table, and Embed blocks.

Here’s an example snippet from a theme.json file that styles all captions:

					

					
{
	"version": 3,
	"styles": {
		"elements": {
			"caption": {
				"color": {
					"text": "#666666"
				},
				"typography": {
					"fontSize": "0.875rem",
					"lineHeight": "1.4"
				}
			}
		}
	}
}

				

Unlock more power in the block editor

Adding a caption to a featured image should be a seamless part of your publishing workflow. While this option isn’t available in the core Featured Image block by default, Twentig integrates a familiar “Add caption” icon directly into the block toolbar to make the process intuitive and simple. This is just one of many ways the Twentig plugin enhances the core WordPress blocks you use every day.